


Things We Lost In Fire

by pureklaination



Series: Year In The Life [5]
Category: Glee / Teen Wolf RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2014-02-13
Packaged: 2018-01-12 05:24:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1182436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pureklaination/pseuds/pureklaination
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one were things are still messy, but at least there's talking?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things We Lost In Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crisscobrien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crisscobrien/gifts).



> Part 2 of Valentines

Chris’s alarm went off no more than three minutes after he’d gone to bed. At least that’s how it felt.

He sat up slowly, careful not to let all of the jostling hurt his head any further and opened the fresh bottle of water on his bedside table. He took a long drink and then tapped his phone absentmindedly to stop the incessant noise.

He had this. Chris had done the partying on a weeknight thing enough times to be completely prepared. He swallowed back some fast acting, instant pain relief Advil before even standing up, and then walked directly to the shower, dumping the sweatpants he was in straight on the floor. He could deal with that later, for now - shower, clothes, and work. In that order. Hopefully.

His mind wandered while he stood under the particularly cool spray, straying to what he’d said to Dylan and how letting his good sense not to drink too much had been a complete and total mistake. There had been maybe two or three vodkas before Chris had even reached the party. After that it was onto cocktails and apparently they were vodka too, which was a bonus for not mixing his drinks but really he should have known better.

There were war stories from vodka stemming back to his younger years and none of them were good. In fact, he should not under any circumstances be put in confrontational positions while under the influence.

Fuck, Dylan must absolutely _hate_ him.

It would have been fine if there had been no one else there that he knew, Chris would have just had a few drinks, gone to the party long enough for photo ops and then gone home, no harm done.

Except now there was a whole lot of harm done.

Finishing up in the shower, Chris toweled dry and walked through to his room to the clothes he had set up before leaving last night. He got dressed quickly enough for the Advil to really start kicking in and made a cup of Earl Grey in his travel mug on the way out.

It was lucky that he didn’t live too far from set, because his head was spacey for most of the drive. The tea helped enough that when he got to set and went straight to make-up for his assigned clothes he was able to greet them with slightly more enthusiasm.

“Christopher! Good morning, how was your night?” The stylist, Catherine, asked loudly.

Chris plopped his bag and travel mug on the table in front of him and smiled, “Not too bad, thank you. How about you, Catherine?”

She grinned down at him and started setting out the required supplies in the trolley next to her, “Oh, undoubtedly less interesting than _yours_. Pray tell who kept you up until the early hours of the morn?”

Chris was shocked, he couldn’t look _that_ bad. He was showered, dressed and apart from the bags under his eyes…

Natalie, one of the other stylists walked over with his outfit for that day in a garment bag also smiling, “Hey Chris, have you seen Perez this morning?”

Shit.

Chris shook his head in response and pulled his fully charged phone out of the front pocket of his bag. “Morning, Nat.”

“You look perky for someone who was out all night, as Catherine well knows - she’s just no where near as invested in your life as I am,” Natalie continued.

Crap.

Raising his eyebrows, Chris pulled up Perez’s website and there he was, clear as day standing across from Dylan in the stupid diner _”Shit.”_

Natalie smiled cheekily again and looked over his shoulder to the picture on Chris’s screen. “Could be worse honey, he’s so good looking… That’s Dylan O’Brien, right? Teen Wolf? Hot.”

Worst-case-scenario, Darren’s already seen the picture and has assumed they went home together after. So really, anything less than that Chris could probably get through. Right?

“Yeah, he’s...okay.” Chris replied. He had no reason to give them more information, anything he said would be used against him, so less is best.

Nat giggled, “Oh pish, you’re just being _modest_ Dylan’s fucking hot and you were out until early this morning so give us the _goss_

Catherine started on his hair, muttering something about interfering in other peoples personal lives.

“Nat, please I don’t want to talk about it.” Chris said, silently thanking Catherine for understanding.

Natalie looked nonplussed, unsure if she’d really crossed a line. They’d talked about Chris dating before and he’d been honest and open with her. But this wasn’t about dating. This was a complete invasion by the paparazzi into a situation no one understood except himself, Darren and Dylan.

That was probably the worst possible moment for Darren to walk in looking downright cheerful holding a large coffee cup and a muffin.

“Good morning, Chris, Nat and Catherine -- how are you?” He asked stumbling over the last words when he saw their faces. “Sorry, have I interrupted something? Should I go and come back in a few minutes?”

Natalie laughed awkwardly, “Morning, Darren, no not at all, let me just run and get your clothes.” She left quickly after that.

Catherine gave a quick, “Morning Darren, I’ll be with you shortly,” before going back to Chris’s hair.

Chris, meanwhile, was stuck on what to say other than good morning. He couldn’t bring up the photo himself and risk having to explain everything, Catherine was humming under her breath above him, almost like she was trying to give them some semblance of privacy.

“Chris?” Darren said.

“Morning Darren,” Chris replied, pointedly looking at the mirror in front of him.

Darren tried again, “What’s up?”

“Not much,” was all Chris said.

Walking back into the room holding another garment bag Natalie looked from one to the other in exasperation. Sure, it was a different situation for her, for the most part Chris and Darren always had something to talk about in the mornings. But nothing could excuse her blind assumption and her next sentence. “So Darren, have you heard about Chris’ new beau?”

_Shit_

Darren raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Oh yeah? Do tell.”

“No, Darren it’s not what-” Chris started when Natalie overrode him reciting from the article obviously still open on her phone.

_“Glee star Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel on Glee) was spotted early this morning leaving an exclusive after party with no other than Teen Wolf’s arguably hottest young star Dylan O’Brien (Stiles Stilinski on Teen Wolf). Only to be found an hour later holed up in a romantic little café downtown. Could a romantic crossover be in the stars for these up and coming celebs?”_

Christ, really? Was the dramatic news-reporter accent really necessary?

Darren’s face was unreadable - he looked a little green around the edges, but that was it.

“Chris?” He asked.

Chris tried not to let his tone betray him, “Yes, Darren?”

“What’s going on?”

Chris looked around him pointedly, “Nothing I wish to talk about _here_.” It came out a lot bitchier than he’d intended.

Darren tried again, “I think you owe me an explanation.”

Catherine and Natalie were standing behind them looking back and forth like they were watching a grand slam tennis match. Catherine spoke first, “We should leave, come on Natalie.”

She guided Natalie out of the room by her arm to quiet protests.

“Darren, we still have to get ready for work. I promise you there’s nothing going on we just had a talk is all,” Chris said to Catherine’s retreating back.

Darren rolled his eyes, “Yeah sure, he was just at an awards show that you happened to be at, you leave together and then go for coffee at 4am, sounds completely innocent.”

Chris let out an aggravated sound, “For the sake of our friendship I promise you that I did not go _home_ with Dylan, we just got talking at the awards and weren't finished by the end of the party. I assure you, that’s the short story. I would be happy to go over the finer points out of work hours.”

Looking doubtful, Darren nodded his assent. “My house, after work. You will explain to me why the fuck Dylan has not answered my calls this morning.”

Chris nodded and Darren jumped up to call Catherine back into the trailer to finish off their makeup. Chris was mostly done and left to get his costume on for the day.

***

After the longest day in Glee history, Chris washed his makeup off in his trailer, popped out his contacts and put them in their little holders for the next day. There was a sharp knock at the door and he sighed, it was time then.

Darren stood outside in his normal Darren-wear, “Follow me in your car,” was all he said.

Chris nodded, grabbing his keys and bag off of the table, locking the door behind him. The car ride to Darren’s flat was horrible, Chris ended up turning off the music hoping to quell the unsettled feeling in his stomach.

Once they got there and Chris had parked his car off to the side, Chris followed Darren up the three flights of stairs and eventually inside. It was like a damn breaking the feeling of trying to get all the words out before Darren got angry.

Instead, Darren held his hand up to stop Chris from speaking altogether, “Me first,” He said. “For a start, if you hadn’t have said what you said this morning I would have assumed you and Dylan had gone out for coffee because you wanted to get to know each other for _my_ sake. But if it was just that you would not have been in such a hurry to rush to your own defence.” Darren cleared his throat, “So I’m going to let you tell your side of it, but, if there’s a particular reason Dylan hasn’t answered his calls all day, you should probably lead with that.”

Chris felt like a deer caught in the headlights. This was probably all his fault, and if Darren was duped out of something he really wanted with Dylan it could cause Darren to easily never speak to him again. Shit, he had to fix this.

“Darren, I’m sorry-” Chris started, but darren held a hand up again.

“Don’t apologise, just fucking explain to me what happened, will you?”

Chris nodded. “We were at the same party last night and I may have had a few vodka cocktails. Dylan was there, as you know. And we just got to talking about… Well I don’t really know what at first, I just wanted to know what it was about him that you liked- you know?”

Rolling his eyes again, Darren nodded, “Yeah okay, cause you always let me size up your potential boyfriends… No wait, you don’t. You didn’t even want me to _speak _to whatshisface.”__

“Darren, please.” Chris said, noting how sullen Darren looked. “Can I continue?” With a wave of his hand, Darren moved to sit on the couch in the living room. Chris followed, still talking, “We were talking and I may have gotten a little.. er -- morbidly curious why you would want to date someone like him so I asked him about himself and we just kept talking. It was about 3ish when we left the party and moved to the diner down the road.”

“You thought that was okay? You know what those things are like, paps everywhere.” Darren interrupted.

Chris clenched his hands in his lap, “Yes, I know it was stupid and even more so even talking to him after vodka just- he’s so… I don’t know, addictive? Easy to talk to? I was- I _am_ thinking that you and I could consider giving it another shot after the other night…” He trailed off, feeling embarrassed. This was not how he wanted to say this to Darren.

Darren sighed, “Chris the other night was fun but -- a stupid mistake on my part.”

Chris felt like he’d been punched in the stomach, of course Darren wouldn’t want to be with him after this. Darren continued, “You talked for six hours about wanting to get back together with me to Dylan of all people? What the actual fuck, Chris?”

“I know, I know it was a stupid conversation anyway, it’s not like I threatened him or anything, I’m not a complete moron, he’s taller than me, you know?”

“He’s taller than you? That’s your reason for not getting into a fight with him? What the hell were you _thinking_?”

Chris breathed in slowly, it was one thing to know he’d done the wrong thing, quite another to have Darren all up in his face, upset and angry about it. “I’m sorry, I know I already said that but please, you have to understand I never meant to like, intimidate him or anything -- I just wanted to talk to him. Especially after the other night, it was so awkward.”

Darren’s face fell further, if that was even possible. “Chris, I think you need to leave now.” He said. It was probably symbolic of his headspace that Darren hadn’t even offered him a drink when they’d arrived.

Chris nodded, understanding. Hoping that Darren didn’t see the first shine of tears as he left the room then out the front door, closing it softly behind him. There was nothing more he could do now, the damage was done.

***

That night was hard for Chris and he didn’t sleep well. Instead he spent most of it thinking about the mess he felt responsible for between Darren and Dylan. He got up to the tone of his alarm the next morning and went through the motions anyway. Showing up on set at his usual time and heading straight to makeup. He was a professional, he could do this.

“Chris, Darren’s not in today so the scenes you had set for this morning have changed and you’ll be working on your New York stuff instead,” Natalie said, holding a costume bag out to him.

Chris was surprised, it wasn’t like Darren not to show up no matter what was going on in the background. After today they were both scheduled for a few days off so this would push production back as well. “Did he say why?” He asked, trying for a conversational tone.

Natalie frowned, “No, that’s all the message we got down here - you could probably ask Ryan or someone though? I’m sorry by the way -- if this has anything to do with what I said yesterday - I didn’t mean to cause trouble, but I think I did.” She looked upset.

Chris was quick to reply with a, “No-no, this has nothing to do with that, don’t even worry about it.” Even though it was a complete and total lie.

Natalie nodded and Catherine came in to start on Chris’s makeup for the day, nothing close up saved time, but as per usual his hair took a bit of work. When it was done he thanked her, picked up his bag and collected his garment bag to take back to his trailer.

The trailer was locked but Chris a master in the technique of juggling a bag, garment bag, drink and key got it open and went inside. Unceremoniously settling the clothes on his tiny work table and pulling out his phone.

He’d been toying with the idea of sending Darren a text before work, but decided against it in case he was having a bad enough morning as it was. But Darren not being at work was hardly a good sign, and even if it was just an apology it was a step in the right direction.

[Chris] Darren, I’m sorry (again) & hope you’re not sick.

There, that was simple and to the point. Chris hit send and promptly put the phone down like it would bite. He was torn, on one side he wanted to know how Darren responded immediately, on the other, if Darren didn’t respond at all - eh.

Shaking his head resolutely, Chris picked up his garment bag and went to get ready.

It was yet another crappy day. He couldn’t focus on his scenes and people kept shooting him funny looks, it was clear he was out of it. But he hadn’t had a day this bad since well, straight after the tour really.

Lea approached him first, asking politely if he was okay and following it up with if he knew where Darren was.

Chris shrugged the rest off once he had assured her that he was okay, just tired.

She nodded and went back to her trailer for lunch. Apparently he wasn’t the only one seeking a little solitude that day.

There was still nothing from Darren and Chris was worried about it, Darren wasn’t the hold grudges and ignore people type -- even though Chris had most definitely earned that response.

They finished at 4pm that day and he’d still not heard anything. Sliding his phone on to the table a little harder than was strictly necessary, Chris noticed a post-it note stuck there.

 _~It doesn’t matter that you made a mistake, what matters is how you recover from it~_ was written on it in a quick sqrawl, and not one he could recognise on sight alone. There was no name, or other notes around but Chris found himself giving the trailer a once-over anyway. He didn’t generally leave the door unlocked during takes but he might have earlier and who the hell knew him well enough to do that?

Well, any one of them really, but that wasn’t the point. Cheeky Bastards.

Going home that night took some extra time. He stopped for some groceries at the local Deli (very quiet, very small, very expensive), but it was worth it to know that he would have some basic food for the evening and could order some more online for the next three days.

All the while he thought back to the words on the note tucked carefully next to Chris’s computer in his bag.

Apparently Darren wasn’t going to talk to him. So he was going to have to do the next best thing. Stalk Dylan, find out his number and grovel for forgiveness.

***

“Hi Grant, yeah it’s been a while - I was wondering if you could do me a favour? Yeah I’m good, glad you’re enjoying the new show.” Chris rolled his eyes fondly listening to Grant’s excited chatter on the other end of the line. “I was hoping to get a hold of Dylan’s number from Colton, are you guys still at work? Sweet. Could you text me back with…? Fantastic thank you so much! Yep, I’ll pass that on to Darren for you.” He hung up with a smile, the first real smile in days, Grant was happy to ask Colton for Dylan’s number and Chris was going to be able to talk him.

The plot worked well, Chris got a text 30 minutes later from an unknown number that he quickly added into his phone as Colton for future reference. Before he could change his mind, Chris hit the digits and called Dylan straight away.

No Answer. This was not a part of the plan.

He tried again, frustrated now. Thinking about it, Dylan probably didn’t answer unknown numbers -- Chris didn’t either. Unknown numbers were the easiest way to accidentally have a fan discover your number and… He shivered.

[Chris] Hi Dylan, I know you have no reason too, but could you please pick up your phone - Chris

**{Dylan} Is Darren okay?**

[Chris] That’s kinda what I wanted to talk to you about.

Chris called again and Dylan answered on the second ring, “Chris?” he questioned straight away, “what happened and how the hell did you get my number?”

“Hi Dylan,” Chris got out quickly, “Darren’s okay, pissed, but okay -- I got your number from Grant who got it from Colton, I’m sorry about that but I really needed to speak to you. I want to apologise for my behaviour the other night, it was way out of line and I’m sorry.”

Dylan was silent from the other side of the phone for a few seconds, “You just apologised three times in like, one sentence.”

Chris nodded before realising that Dylan couldn’t see it, so added “Yeah, cause I’m _that_ sorry.” It sounded a bit ridiculous to him, but it was worth it. Dylan had earned a bit of grovelling.

“It’s fine, Chris, I just - I don’t want to be involved with whatever problems you two have and I really don’t want to make them worse. You said Darren was pissed? Is that my fault for not answering? God, I just didn’t know what to _say_.”

Chris bit his lower lip, breathing through his nose and thinking for a second, _what matters is how you recover from it._ “No, Darren’s not pissed at you, he’s pissed at me - for how I treated you and he’s completely right. I was an asshole the other night and you didn’t deserve that. You were right by the way I had no right to butt into whatever’s going on with you guys like that, and I have even less right to corner you… The way I did.” Chris sighed at the end of his little speech, it was so much harder not being able to see Dylan’s reactions on his face.

“Yeah well, I was a bit… Harsher, than I needed to be as well.” Dylan said.

Chris took that as a good sign and decided to continue, “If you could - I don’t know - speak to him? I won't get in the way anymore, I promise just - he saw the pictures and I was honest about what I said to you. He was so mad and then he didn’t come into work today and I’m worried that I’ve ruined _this_ for you guys. And I’m so sorry, Dylan.”

Dylan cleared his throat, “I- Yeah, okay. I’ll call him.”

“Thanks, Dylan that’s all I ask.” Chris said in a rush. “I’ll let you go-”

“Wait, before you hang up,” Dylan said, waiting for Chris’s ‘Mhm’ in response that he was still there. “Thanks for apologising, It’s hard, y’know, in this industry to avoid people and I’m just really glad-”

“Don’t mention it,” Chris cut him off, “thank _you_ for agreeing to call Darren.” Asking him to let Chris know how it went was probably a bit much, so he settled for saying goodbye and ending the call.

Finally, he was doing something right.

***

**{Darren} Thank you.** An odd text to get at 1.30am but in context it was enough to get Chris a decent nights sleep that night.

The next morning however, it was different to Darren’s usual sms flair for the dramatic adding of smiley’s and hearts. He’d still take it over silence though. Any day.

[Chris] I assume Dylan spoke to you?

**{Darren} Yeah, and he said you apologised for being a dick, I told him to get used to it :D**

Not quite sure how to respond to that, it could be in a sarcastic tone or serious. The smiley helped a bit, though.

[Chris] Thanks. I’ll try not to be such a dick in the future. Sorry again.

**{Darren} For the record I’m still pissed at you, I’m just a bit LESS pissed.**

[Chris] Fair call, does this mean I can make our usual Valentine’s bookings?

**{Darren} Nup, busy that night, got a hot date.**

[Chris] Well if I don’t qualify for dinner, how about lunch?

**{Darren} 12pm?**

[Chris] It’s a date.

**{Darren} :P**

Lunch on Valentine's. At their usual Italian restaurant around the block from Paramount. Two days and counting, Chris called and made a booking on the spot, delighted that there were still tables in the back available.

_Incoming Call, Dylan O, Slide to Answer?_

***

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE thank you to em twobirdsonesong for the beta and jen froggydarren for the hand holding!


End file.
